Donald McKinley Glover Jr. (born September 25, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, record producer, singer, songwriter, rapper and DJ. He performs under the musical stage name Childish Gambino and as a DJ under the name mcDJ, although Glover's next album will be his last under his stage name.[1]

Glover graduated from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in Dramatic Writing (2006).[17] While at Tisch, Glover self-produced the independent mixtape The Younger I Get, which was not released and was disowned by Glover for being "too-raw ramblings" of what he calls a "decrepit Drake".[18] Glover also began disc jockeying and producing electronic music under the moniker MC D—later as mcDJ— remixing Sufjan Stevens' album Illinois (2005).[19]

Glover became known to a wider audience with Dan Harmon's NBC sitcom Community, which premiered in September 2009. Glover played Troy Barnes, a former high school star quarterback who quickly abandons his former jock mentality and embraces his nerdy, childish side as the result of his friendship with Abed Nadir (played by Danny Pudi).[26] Glover did not return as a full-time cast member for the show's fifth season, appearing in the first five of the season's 13 episodes.[27] Despite speculation that he was leaving to pursue his rap career as Childish Gambino, a series of hand-written notes that Glover posted to Instagram revealed that his reasons were more personal, citing a need for projects that offered him more independence as he worked through some personal issues.[28] Although Harmon approached Glover about returning to the show for its sixth season, Glover declined, stating both show and audience would be better served by the closure of his character omitted from the story.[29] In September 2009, he released his second mixtape Poindexter.[18] A pair of mixtapes, titled I Am Just a Rapper and I Am Just A Rapper 2, were released in close succession in 2010 and followed that July by his fifth mixtape Culdesac.[30]

In March 2010, Glover performed a 30-minute set on the stand-up showcase program Comedy Central Presents.[31] In May 2010, a fan suggested Glover for the role of Peter Parker in the then-upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man film, encouraging his supporters to retweet the hashtag "#donald4spiderman".[32] The campaign, originally started to see how far social networking could carry a message, quickly gained a large following.[33] The call for Glover to be allowed to audition for the role was supported by Spider-Man creator Stan Lee.[34] Glover was not given an audition and the role instead went to Andrew Garfield. He later revealed that he was never contacted for the role by anyone from Sony Pictures. Comics writer Brian Michael Bendis, who announced Miles Morales, an African-American version of Spider-Man, a year later, said he had conceived of the character before Glover's campaign went viral.[35] Bendis gave credit to Glover for influencing the new hero's looks for Spider-Man; Bendis has said, "I saw him in the costume [on Community] and thought, 'I would like to read that book.'"[36] Glover later voiced this incarnation of Spider-Man on the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series.[37] Glover received the Rising Comedy Star award at the Just for Laughs festival in July 2010 and was featured in Gap's 2010 holiday advertising campaign.[38][39]

2011–2014: Camp and Because the Internet

His first extended play, titled EP, was released as a free digital download in March 2011.[40] A music video for the song "Freaks and Geeks" was released in that month and Glover hosted the mtvU Wooodie Awards, held live at South By Southwest.[41][42] Glover commenced his nationwide IAMDONALD Tour in April.[41] The tour was a one-man live show that consisted of rap, comedy, and video segments.[41][43] Glover appeared at the 2011 Bonnaroo Music Festival as both Childish Gambino and as a comedian, performing a set with Bill Bailey.[44] His one-hour stand-up special, Weirdo, aired on Comedy Central in November 2011.[45] Glover worked with friend and film composer Ludwig Göransson on his debut studio album throughout 2011.[46] Prior to its release, signed to Glassnote Records and embarked on The Sign-Up Tour.[47] The album, Camp, was released on November 15, 2011, backed by his debut single "Bonfire" and "Heartbeat", which peaked at number 18 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles and number 54 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.[48]Camp debuted at number eleven on the Billboard 200, selling 52,000 copies in the first week,[49] and was generally well received by critics,[50] with PopMatters writer Steve Lepore finding it to be "undoubtedly one of the best records of any genre to come out in 2011".[51] His Camp Gambino tour was scheduled to commence in March 2012,[52] but was postponed to April after fracturing his foot.[53]

Glover released the songs "Eat Your Vegetables" and "Fuck Your Blog" through his website in April and May.[54] Throughout May and June, he premiered tracks from his sixth mixtape, Royalty, which was released as a free digital download in July. The album featured several artists, including his brother Stephen, under the alias Steve G. Lover III.[55] The single "Trouble" by British artist Leona Lewis from her album Glassheart (2012) featured Gambino with a guest rap performance. The song peaked at No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart, making it his first UK top 10 single.[56] In November 2012, Ludwig Göransson said he and Glover were in his studio coming up with new ideas for the next album which was to be "bigger" and "with more people involved."[57] In 2013, Glover signed on to create a music-themed show for FX titled Atlanta which he would star in, write, and executive produce. Consequently, Glover decided to reduce his work for NBC, and only appeared in the first five episodes of Community's fifth season.[58] Although several networks were interested in picking up his half-hour comedy, he ultimately picked FX due to their willingness to work around his touring schedule.[58] Glover appeared in a supporting role in the romantic comedy The To Do List (2013) and also guest starred in two episodes of the comedy-drama television series Girls in early 2013, as a Republican who is the love interest to Lena Dunham's character.[59][60]

Recording for his second studio album, Because the Internet, finished in October 2013 and it was released in December,[61][62] debuting at number seven on the Billboard 200 chart.[48]Because the Internet yielded the singles "3005", "Crawl" and "Sweatpants". "3005" peaked at number 8 on the UK R&B Chart and 64 on the Billboard Hot 100.[48] To promote the album, the short film Clapping for the Wrong Reasons, written by and starring Glover, was released prior to the album's release and serves as its prelude. Additionally, a 72-page screenplay designed to sync up with the album was also released.[63]Because The Internet has been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipping over 500,000 copies.[64] From February to May 2014, he embarked on The Deep Web Tour.[65] The Recording Industry Association of America certified "Heartbeat" gold in June 2014–making it Glover's first gold certification.[66]

Glover directed the music video for the song "The Pressure" by Jhené Aiko, whose previous single, "Bed Peace", had featured a guest appearance by Glover.[67] On October 2, he released a mixtape titled STN MTN and the following day an EP titled Kauai, which spawned the single "Sober". While STN MTN was a free download, the proceeds of Kauai went to changing the policies for body worn video policing equipment and to maintaining and preserving Kauai island.[68] Glover described them as a joint project and the "first concept mixtape ever" that continues the story told in Camp and Because the Internet.[69] At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, Glover received his first Grammy nominations for Best Rap Album for Because the Internet and Best Rap Performance for "3005".[6]

2015–present: Film roles, Atlanta, and "Awaken, My Love!"

Glover appeared in three films in 2015. In the science fiction horror The Lazarus Effect, he played a scientist working with a team of researchers who brings a member of the team back to life with consequences.[70] Glover played a singer in the comedy-drama Magic Mike XXL and performed a cover of the Bruno Mars song "Marry You" in the film, which was included in the soundtrack.[71] His final release of the year, Ridley Scott's science fiction The Martian, featured Glover as a Jet Propulsion Laboratory astrodynamicist who formulates a maneuver to help rescue an astronaut (played by Matt Damon) stranded on Mars.[72] Glover contributed to the soundtrack of Creed (2015) – a film in the Rocky film series which was composed by Ludwig Göransson – providing vocals to the song "Waiting For My Moment" and co-wrote another titled "Breathe".[73]

Glover announced his intention to retire the Childish Gambino pseudonym in June 2017, telling the audience "I'll see you for the last Gambino album" before walking off stage at the Governors Ball Music Festival.[95] He further explained his decision in an interview, feeling his musical career was no longer "necessary" and added "There's nothing worse than like a third sequel" and "I like it when something's good and when it comes back there's a reason to come back, there's a reason to do that."[96] Glover signed with RCA Records in January 2018, which Glover called "a necessary change of pace".[97][98] In May 2018, he released a single titled "This Is America" while performing dual hosting and musical duty on Saturday Night Live.[98] The song debuted at number one, becoming both Glover's first number one and top ten single in the United States.[99] It features him both singing and rapping, drawing influence from trap music.[100] Its lyrics addressed a variety of topics including gun violence in the United States and being black in the United States,[101] while its provocative video, directed by Japanese filmmaker and frequent collaborator Hiro Murai, featured Glover performing a series of shootings before breaking into dance.[102]

Glover has also influenced a number of younger musicians and actors alike. Rapper Vince Staples talks of Glover's ability to constantly reinvent himself while actor and writer Naren Weiss cites his versatility as a source of inspiration.[107][108][109]

Personal life

Glover has a younger brother, writer/producer Stephen, who was also nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for Atlanta.[110]

In January 2017, Glover announced that he and his partner, Michelle, had had a son in early 2016.[111][112] In June, before performing "Baby Boy" in a tribute to his son, he revealed his name as Legend.[113] In September, he announced that he and Michelle were expecting a second son,[114] who was born in January 2018.[115]